Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image display apparatus, and more particularly, to an image display apparatus that displays a non-glasses type stereoscopic image.
Discussion of the Related Art
Recently, as realistic images are becoming more in demand, stereoscopic image display devices that display 3D (three-dimensional) images as well as 2D (two-dimensional) images are being developed.
2D-image display devices have been greatly advanced in terms of a quality of a display image such as resolution and viewing angle, but have a limitation in that 2D-image display devices cannot display depth information of an image because they are displaying 2D images.
On the other hand, a stereoscopic image display devices display stereoscopic images instead of 2D-planar images, and thus fully transfer original 3D information to a user. Therefore, in comparison with the existing 2D-image display devices, stereoscopic image display devices display far more vivid and realistic stereoscopic images.
Stereoscopic image display devices are largely categorized into glasses type stereoscopic image display devices using 3D glasses and non-glasses type stereoscopic image display devices using no 3D glasses. The non-glasses type stereoscopic image display devices are the same as the glasses type stereoscopic image display devices in the sense that the non-glasses type stereoscopic image display devices provide a three-dimensionality of an image to a viewer by using a binocular parallax. However, since the non-glasses type stereoscopic image display devices do not require wearing the 3D glasses, the non-glasses type stereoscopic image display devices are more advantageous than the glasses type stereoscopic image display devices. The non-glasses type stereoscopic image display devices may be categorized into a lenticular type and a barrier type, wherein the non-glasses type stereoscopic image display device of the lenticular type splits a left-eye image and a right-eye image from each other by using a cylindrical lens array, and the non-glasses type stereoscopic image display device of the barrier type splits a left-eye image and a right-eye image from each other by using a barrier.
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a general barrier type stereoscopic image display apparatus.
Referring to FIG. 1, the general barrier type stereoscopic image display apparatus includes a display panel 10 displaying images by splitting a left-eye image L1 and a right-eye image RI from each other, and a barrier panel 20 formed to have light-transmitting areas 22 and light-blocking areas 24, which are repeatedly arranged, and arranged on an entire surface of the display panel 10.
A viewer views images displayed on the display panel 10 through the light-transmitting areas 22 of the barrier panel 20, wherein a left eye LE and a right eye RE of the viewer see different areas of the display panel 10 through the same light-transmitting area 22. Accordingly, the viewer views the left-eye image LI and the right-eye image RI, which are displayed to adjoin each other through the light-transmitting areas 22, thereby feeling three-dimensionality.
The stereoscopic image display apparatus described as above is advantageous in that switching of a 2D display mode or a 3D display mode may be performed in accordance with the status of the light-transmitting areas 22 and the light-blocking areas 24, which are formed on the barrier panel 20. The stereoscopic image display apparatus is recently applied to televisions, monitors, notebook computers, netbook computers, tablet computers, and mobile devices owing to the advantage.
However, in the general stereoscopic image display device, since the light-transmitting areas 22 and the light-blocking areas 24 are fixedly formed on the barrier panel 20, if a viewing location (or distance) of the viewer is varied, the location of the viewer is not matched with the light-transmitting areas 22 in some area of the display panel 10. For this reason, a problem occurs in that stereoscopic images are not realized in some area of the display panel 10.